The monster-sized garbage truck was headed straight for the horse I was riding down busy Columbus Avenue, at the height of evening rush hour on New York City’s Upper West Side. Gears grinding loudly, the vehicle kept chugging toward us as I maneuvered my horse as close as possible to the parked cars along the curb in an attempt to avoid a truck-horse-human collision.
The perpetually rearing wooden horse still stares out the enormous picture window oblivious to the constant bustle of New York City, just as he’s done since 1912. All around him, the world has changed. The once plentiful shops offering equestrian accouterments to clients with names like Rockefeller and Kennedy have disappeared, leaving Manhattan Saddlery as the sole surviving tack shop in the borough.
It was 8:45 p.m. on a Thursday evening. It was dark, wet and cold outside. I had 24 hours until the chili cook-off fundraiser I’d been planning for the Area II Young Riders, and the anxiety was setting in, as it always does before any function I plan.
I was doing my best to balance my time between my full-time job at Sinead Halpin Eventing, my part-time job at Prestige Saddles, my commitment to Young Riders, my part-time job teaching at River Edge Farm, and my personal commitment to fitness.
Loxus, a talented hunter, jumper and eventer who carried the Bearak family for many decades, died on Feb. 19. He was 30.
Loxus, an Oldenburg gelding, was well known in the show ring and competed at the Pennsylvania National and the Washington (D.C.) International Horse Shows and was the North Carolina Hunter Jumper Association children’s/adult jumper champion when he and his rider, Mark Bearak, were both 19.
A few years later, he was the North Carolina Dressage and Combined Training Association champion in novice eventing with Mark’s mother, Arleene.
Do Not Disturb By Jill Silver
Jill Silver became involved with foxhounds when she moved to Tryon, N.C. in the mid-1990s. “I came here on a mission—to live in a place I loved and be a professional artist,” she said.
When she first moved to Tryon, she met huntsman Chip Anderson, who gave her her first commission and also a part-time job as Tryon Hounds kennelman.
Henry Tompkins “Duffy” Rathbun, a passionate Thoroughbred race horse breeder and owner, died on March 19 from complications following a heart attack. He was 87.
Mr. Rathbun was born in Elmira, N.Y., and graduated from Amherst College (Mass.) in 1944 before serving on a U.S. Navy destroyer escort in World War II. He then attended law school at the University of Virginia but skipped his last classes to go to the races in Charles Town, W.Va., on a blind date, where he met his future wife, Sheilah. He graduated in 1948.
Rearing Horse By C. Tanner Jensen
Award-winning artist C. Tanner Jensen is known for her ability to translate the essence of the horse into art. She is primarily known for her mixed media paintings that not only encompass the earthly aspects of the horse, but also the spiritual and metaphorical.
Ronald “Ronnie” Sakell, a professional horseman and beloved instructor, died on Jan. 24. He was 73.
Mr. Sakell was born in Washington, D.C., and was a self-employed horseman who instructed students, trained and sold horses. He was a member of the Orange County Hunt (Va.), the Charles Town Benevolent Protective Association (W.Va.), and the Washington Bridle Trails Association and was a fixture on the Northern Virginia horse show circuit.
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